Fast-screening for all components prior to shipment Many companies - including Intel, National Semiconductor, and others - have begun to subject every chip to a fast-screening burn-in procedure lasting up to 48 hours. Fast-screening accelerates the chip's maturation process - essentially bringing the chip past the critical infant mortality stage of its operating life where the probability of failure is highest. As a result, chipmakers ensure the integrity of components shipped out. For these chipmakers with a strong commitment to quality, LHWS-100 is an essential solution which can provide on-line fast-screening for every chip, which translates into substantial cost and time savings.

New product qualification. Today, new products are typically subjected to hundreds or thousands of hours of burn-in before they are transferred from design to production. The cost of qualifying new products using burn-in includes direct equipment and overhead costs as well as indirect costs associated with product introduction delays due to time required for burn-in reliability tests. Together, these costs can reach millions of dollars. With its on-line testing capabilities, LHWS-100 can eliminate virtually all of the indirect costs while substantially accelerating product introduction schedules.

Maverick lots. Maverick lots are production lots with an unusually large number of defective components. For these lots, it is imperative that manufacturers individually test every component and there is a clear time-to-market advantage in doing this quickly. LHWS-100's on-line testing capabilities meet this requirement, allowing IC manufacturers to rapidly qualify and ship components.

Standard process monitoring Customers can use LHWS-100 for the inspection and qualification of IC's they have purchased for integration into their systems

Recall products which are suspected of defects can be a time-consuming and expensive project, taking a heavy toll on the chipmaker's bottom line. LHWS-100 minimizes the costs and time associated with recall procedures by enabling fast on-line qualification of each component.